Apron Strings across America

Happy Mother's Day to all my readers across the Pond!

This week's challenge at One Stitch at a Time (OSAAT) is Girly, to celebrate Mother's Day. 

We don't celebrate Mother's Day in the U.S. until May 13th this year, but I went ahead and made this for my mom. I chose a bright/funky color palette because that's her kind of "girly"!

I made a mini dresser easel card depicting Mom's apron strings crossing the country, featuring the Apron Strings digi stamp set by Stitchy Stamps/Trina Clark. 

From now on, to win our main prize entries must be made using a product from StitchyBear Digital Stores. There are freebies available, and every month there are great deals on digis from all the artists.

This week's main prize is a a £10 gift voucher to Bunny Zoe Crafts!

Entries using none StitchyBear products will be entered into a draw to win $3 to spend at our store.

Hope you'll join us!


I'm entering this into several Easel Card challenges, and although it is a box it's also a card:

I plan to write a message when I send it to Mom. The inside features "vines" cut from 2 flourish Sizzix die cuts, and plastic 3D poppies by Donna Downey Studios. The little knobs are from 7 Gypsies (love love love these!!!)

Each drawer contains a notecard that I also plan to write something in:

The sentiments on the front are heat-embossed, but the one on the inside is simply stamped with chalk ink. They're all from the For Every Mother stamp set by SP&Company.

This uses no store-bought DPs: it's all created with Vintage Vine digital papers by Mel Stampz (thank you!) printed onto white linen cardstock. I created the map background in PhotoSHop, using digital paper piecing. This is a great way to make the most of your digi papers, and Snappy Stampin' with Arielle has an excellent tutorial on how to do it with the free online editor Pixlr.

I totally had an Ah-Ha moment while making this... I had planned on using real spring-action mini clothespins to attach the aprons to the bakers twine, but they were too bulky. So I folded some kraft paper scraps in half and free-cut some teensy old-fashioned round-top clothespins. I literally clipped them on, adding just a drop of glue to the inside.

Thanks for visiting, and I'm looking forward seeing your projects for this week's challenge at One Stitch at a Time!

I'm entering this into the following challenges:
Craft Your Passion: Easel Card (2nd entry)

Delightful Challenges: Someone Special

Emerald Faerie Garden Challenge #20: Easel Cards
Everybody-Art-Challenge #184: Easel Card
Glitter Geeks Week 11: Mother's Day
Hooked on Crafts March Challenge: More than One Fold
MilkCoffee Challenge #1: Anything Goes
My Mum's Craft Shop Challenge #48: Mother's day/special ladies
Papertake Weekly Challenge: For The Girls or Mum
Ruby's Rainbow Challenge #24: Lace

Dude TIme Doodles March Freebie/Guest Designer Challenge

I know you love seeing our Dude Time Doodles cards every week, and I know you especially love it when we have a freebie challenge! This month's freebie is a real cutie, and you could win the enviable prize of joining the Design Team as Guest Designer for the month of April, just by making a card for a man or boy!

One doesn't really think "cute" when one thinks of cards for men, but the men of Dude Time Hollow are a tough yet sensitive bunch, and a little "cute" goes a long way in this wicked world!

I combined Forever Friends (the DTD freebie) with the Just Be Happy digi sentiment by Create with TLC to create the scene; I printed it twice and popped up the images.

This is an easel card; I used Putt Putt Hearts from Dude Time Doodles/Bonibleaux Designs for the inside popped portion.

I hope you'll be inspired by this great image and join us this week (and maybe all next month!) at Dude Time Doodles.

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:
Craft Your Passion Challenge #101: Easel card
Digital Tuesday Challenge #151: Think Spring
Everybody-Art-Challenge #184: Easel card
Sweet Stamps Challenge #57: Spring
Touch Twin Marker Challenge #13: Spring

Kind Thanks

While visiting Arizona, Mom & I spent a lot of time at the local craft store Crop Girls, truly a wonderland for those of us who craft. We went in a few days just to crop & hang out, and also took a couple of classes. I wanted to send them a thank-you, so I made this card using a lot of products they introduced me to!

I was inspired by the following challenges:

• Card Patterns Sketch #146
  The sketch really brought my idea together, especially the little embellishments on the right-hand side: I used tiny, vintage-y paperclips from 7Gypsies.
• Craft Your Passion Challenge #91: Anything Goes + Distressing
  All the pieces, thanks to Tim Holtz products, are ink-distressed with Antique Linen and aged with a paper distresser.
  
• Simon Says Stamp and Show: Something Old ... Something New
  The teensy paperclips, enamel & glitter (see explanation below), and the rose-and-netting ribbon are new from Crop Girls too, but the large rose is from a ribbon sent to me from the awesome Linda for the Thanksgiving Postcard swap at City Crafter. Mom already owned this adorable camel stamp, but I liked it so much that she bought me my own set! Thanks Mom! I stamped it with my new brown Memento ink and colored it with colored pencils. The pencils, paper ribbon, and 2 of the brown papers are newly in my possession but are literary old, in that they went through many hands before ending up the Church rummage sale where I found them! The other two brown papers have been in my stash for at least two years.

I used a technique we learned in a class at Crop Girls taught by Jennifer Dove: Fran•táge. Fran•táge was invented by Stampendous designer Fran Seiford, and it's a mix of montage, collage and total awesomeness. Jennifer showed us how to layer enamel and mica onto a card and melt it from below with your heat tool. If you have an opportunity to take class in this, do it! It's so much fun. I wanted all the products (the aged blue is wonderful!), but I bought the Aged Copper enamel (copper with a touch a green) and Shaved Ice mica/glitter.

Stamps: BaZooples #4 set from Inky Antics, sentiment from Stampin' UP!

Thank you for visiting,

Happy Divorce!

Despite all one's wisdom & best intentions, sometimes Life Happens. My friend's marriage ended suddenly three years ago, and she's really risen to the challenge and is doing great. The breakup took about a year, but since then they've just been going through the legal hoops (expensive hoops!) to end the legal part of the union. Well, I was talking to her yesterday & she said that next week it will be final. Whoo-hoo! She said that if she had the time (she's a mom, who has the time?!) she might throw a party or something, so I thought I'd make her a card. I know she'll get a huge kick out of it. Transition is tough, and people who get through it even stronger certainly deserve a card!

I was inspired by the following challenges:

Fetch-a-Sketch #10

Crafty Cardmakers Challenge #55: Brown, Cream, Pink

Craft Your Passion #83: Anything Goes + Brown

Stamp: Our Betty by Funky Hand


Update 11/18/11: Thank you all for your lovely comments on this card. And thank you Crafty Cardmakers for choosing it for your Top 5 for Challenge #55!

Trick or Treat Box

Mom sent me a sheet of the most wonderful Halloween paper -- orange with black-embossed cats on one side and a groovy black & white pattern on the other -- that I've been hoarding, so I decided to make a fold-over treat box with some of it. I learned how to make this type of box from Stampin' Dymonz, and it's so easy and fun. You basically just fold up a piece of paper and punch out the window. I plan to make a bunch of these for Halloween; we bought some packets of candy today!

I made this for the following:

Craft Your Passion #78: Anything Goes + Twist: Ribbon

Really Reasonable Ribbon's Challenge #33: Halloween Theme

Stamps: Eyes of Newt Clip-Art from Martha Stewart, sentiment by Fiskars, cat rubber stamp from stash
Paper: DP from stash, Hammermill, Recollections
Tools: Fiskars papercutter, stamp block, MS detailing scissors, Marvy heat tool & punch, bright white Shrinky Dink plastic, Crop-O-Dile, toaster oven
Other: Studio G & Offray ribbons, ZipDry glue, Stampendous embossing powder, Versamark & StazOn inks, Copics, Sakura gel pen

Simply for you

The other day at Michaels (shopping with a 50%-off coupon), we found this groovy Layer Away Dots frame set from Fiskars. Now that I'm a bit more comfortable stamping, I really enjoy mixing stamps. This idea just jumped into my head, and I'm please with how it turned out:

I stamped the images in blues, and heat-embossed the frame stamps with a mix of gold, copper & silver left over from my explosion box. It's a very simple card, based the CPS sketch & Craft Your Passion's Just for You theme.

Inspiration: Craft Your Passion #66: Just for You; Card Positioning Systems sketch #226
Stamps: StudioG, Paper Studio, Fiskars, My Mind's Eye
Paper: Recollections, Martha Stewart, 5&Dime
Tools: Marvy heat tool, Fiskars papercutter, Tim Holtz scissors, hole punch
Other: ZipDry glue, Stampendous & ZING embossing powders, Versamark & Memento inks, Copic markers, Sakura gel pen

Love you with Cherry Cake on the side

We picked up red and yellow cherries at the Waverly Farmers Market, and I used some to make one of my favorite cakes from Smitten Kitchen. You can use whatever fruit you want, as long as you drain any excess liquid. I'm pretty sure I spent more time pitting the cherries than making this card! For me, pitting cherries is a huge sign of devotion. So I figured I'd make a card for my husband (and for a few challenges, why not‽) to go along with the cake:

I used half wheat flour and half brown sugar, so it's not a particularly sweet cake, but we can always add something sweet, like ice cream! The heart-punch cherries are coated with Glossy Accents with little rope stems. I copper-embossed the heart brad.

Inspiration:
Mojo Monday #197: Square Sketch
Craft Your Passion #64: Seeing Red
Stampin' Dymonz Scrap Shack Off the Page Group: Polymer Clay
Divas by Design #5: Punches

Tutorials:
Polymer Clay Mosaic Tiles at Art Bliss

Stamps: Cling Cupcake XL by Stampendous, sentiment by Hampden Art
Paper: Recollections (metallic, plain, kraft), glittered Core'dinations
Tools: HP printer & ink, Marvy heat tool, Fiskars papercutter, Recollections heart & border punches
Other: ZipDry glue, ZING embossing powder (thank you Dymonz!), Versamark ink, Sakura GellyRoll pens, brad from stash, Glossy Accents, Sculpey polymer clay, stash craft rope
Copics: YG67, R37, R59

Faberge Egg Treat Holders

As I recently mentioned, I'm a bit addicted to sliding treat holders at the moment. Honestly, I can't believe we haven't devoured the chocolate rabbits yet! I think these are also the perfect size for a packet of baby carrots...you could put a rabbit on the treat holder and then they would be "bunny snacks". I know I always fell for that when I was a kidlet!

I decided to make some using the Faberge Egg digi stamp I bought from Crafty Ann's for my Easter card, and I can't wait to get my hands on more of her eggs, 60 pence at a time (which is exciting for an American, especially when PayPal does the exchange rate for me)!

I really wanted to show off how easy it is to emboss digi stamps right off the printer. The fool-proof method seems to be to print on Vellum (the Recollections brand letter-sized version works great; they call it transparent but it's vellum) at Photo Paper/Best. It prints a bit slowly, but the ink stays wet long enough for the powder to stick right to it. Here, I used glittered-gold, so there's a rough, glitter texture to it. I wasn't sure how it to stick to the fine details, but I shouldn't have worried! I colored the egg on the back of the Vellum. I'm entering the card in the middle (CU below) into A Spoon Full of Sugar Challenge #146: Tons of Texture. There're at least 4 textures: the glittered cardstock, the polka-dot embossed white paper, the glittered-gold embossing on the egg and details, and the smooth clear embossing on the sentiment.
I'm submitting the orange & purple ones into Craft Your Passion Challenge #52: Anything Goes. Supplies: Faberge Egg 1 digi stamp by Crafty Ann's, Happy Blessings sentiment from Regal Greetings set by {ippity} Stamps / Happy Spring sentiment stamp from Studio g, Core'dinations glittered cardstock, Recollections Vellum, Stampendous gold/glitter & clear embossing powder, InkItUp ink, HP printer & ink, Martha Stewart border punches and detailing scissors, Offray ribbon, ZipDry glue, Marvy heat tool, Copic, American Craft & LePlumeII markers

Sliding Treat Holder tutorial: Pioneer Party